The Visit to Costa Rica 



OF 



His Excellency The Secretary of State of the 
United States of America 

PHILANDER C. KNOX 



EDITORIAL 

From "La Gaceta," Official Journal San Jose, Costa Rica 

March 5. 1912 



LEGACION DE COSTA RICA 
WASHINGTON. D. C. 



The Visit to Costa Rica 



OF 



His Excellency The Secretary of State of the 
United States of America 

PHILANDER C. KNOX 



EDITORIAL 

From "La Gaceta," Official Journal, San Jose, Costa Rica 

March 5, 1912 




LEGACION DE COSTA RICA 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 






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4 



SIS EXCELLENCY PHILANDER C. KNOX, 
Secretary of State of the United States of America, 
I has been the guest of honor of Costa Rica for 

four days. He has brought to this RepubHc a message of 
peace and friendship in behalf of the people and Government 
of the great Republic of North America, and it is exceed- 
ingly gratifying to state that in the fulfillment of his pleas- 
ant mission he has shown himself to be not only a courteous 
and refined gentleman, but also an eloquent orator, an accom- 
plished diplomat and eminent statesman. 

The Government of Costa Rica, faithfully voicing the 
sentiments of the Costa Rican people, took special pains in 
rendering as pleasant as possible the short stay in San Jose 
of such a distinguished visitor. The people also expressed 
its acknowledgment and gratitude for the great honor done 
us by his visit, and thereby fully reciprocated the sentiments 
of international friendship so earnestly shown by the dis- 
tinguished visitor. 

To this end the Government directed that the expressions 
of good understanding and cordial relations between the 
greatest and the smallest of the American Republics should 
not be limited to the usual ceremonies of presentation of cre- 
dentials, but that they should really be a sincere token of the 
social world of Costa Rica. 

A ball in honor of His Excellency the Secretary of State 
and his distinguished wife, and a banquet given in their 
honor by the President of the Republic, constituted the 
most conspicuous features of the expressions of joy be- 
cause of said good understanding and cordial friendship. 
The two social functions were entirely successful, both for 



the large attendance of prominent people and for the sump- 
tuoiisness displayed in them. The genteel women of the 
capital Avho attended the ball, in the superb coliseum, again 
gave evidence of the high degree of culture of the Costa 
Ricans, and the speeches made at the banquet bore witness 
of the cordial friendship which exists between the two 
countries. 



TOAST OF PRESIDENT RICARDO JIMENEZ 

You are welcome to Costa Rica, distinguished Represen- 
tative of the United States of America, that friendly coun- 
try that from remote times and in a variety of ways has ex- 
ercised such a far-reaching influence over the destinies of 
this Republic. 

A little time after the thirteen colonies, according to 
the terms of your Declaration of Independence, "Assumed, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal sta- 
tion to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle 
them," the Spanish colonies, stirred up by the revolutionary 
fermentation of the North and encouraged by your noble 
example, repeated and made good your words, applying 
them to themselves, declaring that "They were and of right 
ought to be, free and independent States," and so it was, 
Sir, that Costa Rica, without hatred toward, and even with- 
out disaffection for Spain, and carried along by the wave 
of emancipation that swept over the New World from Mas- 
sachusetts to the Argentine, abandoned her secular vassal- 
age and assumed the sovereign arbitration of her destiny. 

Nevertheless it was very possible, above all in Central 
America, that our exercise of sovereignty would onl}^ ha^-e 
been a momentary eclipse of European domination, of this 
or that State, if it had not been for the joint Anglo-American 
action, and if the United States had not pronounced in 1823, 
through the mouth of President Monroe, its formidable 
veto. The American Eagle then spread its wings over this 
continent, and in its flight joined that of the "Nopal" and 
the Condors of the South. And from that epoch the 
schemes of conquest or re-conquest of the ancient colonies 



were consigned to the dominions of the things past and 
gone for ever. 

But there is another benefit that we owe to your country, 
the greatest of all, that without which all others would be 
mere dross. We have cast our institutions in the moulding- 
sand of yours. In our first attempts in the exercise of self- 
government — the only one that deserves the decorous re- 
spect of men — we learned to spell in your famous document 
of Declaration of Independence that, "All men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain 
unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness;" and consistent with these funda- 
mental principles, as incontrovertible now at the begin- 
ning of the 20th century as they were at the end of the 18th, 
we regulated our political system, and within that system, 
the smallest Republic of this hemisphere lives happily, 
"Without envying others or being envied by them," in the 
same manner as your wonderful country enjoying all the 
privileges of that same system also lives contentedly, an 
actual demonstration of the fact that self-government, with 
powers distributed and limited, with liberty of speech and a 
free press, of effective and extensive individual rights ; a gov- 
ernment that derives its just powers from the consent of the 
governed, is beneficent everywhere — at least in America — 
with that same universality of the mathematical laws, that 
are equally appropriate for fixing the course of the planets as 
they are for arranging the most humble transactions of men. 

I hope. Sir, that the personal knowledge of our institu- 
tions and customs may excite in you a feeling of true pride 
and pleasure, on seeing many of the seeds of good govern- 
ment bearing fruit in this little corner of America, snatched 
from your fields of liberty by the winds that carry civiliza- 
tion from country to country, and dropped by them here and 
there in all parts of the world. 

"There will be perpetual peace between the United 
States and the Republic of Costa Rica !" these were the pro- 



phetic words of Daniel Webster, stamped on the treaty of 
1851 which bears his signature. Consecrated by the lapse 
of time the things that have happened since then have con- 
firmed this prophecy. Our mutual relations of countrymen 
with countrymen have grown steadily. We sell in the mar- 
kets of the United States 60 per cent of our exportations 
and, in exchange, we buy in them 60 per cent of the articles 
that Costa Rica imports. This present condition of reci- 
procity is an excellent sign that foretells the firmness of our 
future relations. 

In negotiating, we enter into mutual relations with 
others, and to have intercourse with others is to be known, to 
be appreciated and to consolidate friendships. Attracted by 
the fertility of our soils and the riches of our mines, and I 
presume, attracted also by our peacefulness and by the re- 
spect and regard we show to foreigners, their properties and 
creeds, you will find here a great number of your fellow 
countrymen managing large capitals of their own or of per- 
sons who reside in the United States. Far from frowning 
upon their good luck, we are pleased to see it, and as their 
gains are not derived through legislative favors, their pros- 
perity does not diminish, but on the contrary, helps to aug- 
ment vigorously the prosperity of the nation. 

Lastly, Mr. Secretary, it is not possible to pass over in 
silence that share which, through our own initiative and con- 
fident acts, your country has taken in the demarkation of the 
territory of this Republic. An American hand, the just 
hand of Mr. Cleveland, of blessed memory, marked our 
boundaries on the north ; and another hand, the hand of Mr. 
White, in which now hangs, happily for you and also for us, 
the scales of justice, will trace our southern frontier. In the 
arrangement that Costa Rica and Panama made to this effect 
you put, out of consideration to both parties, the valuable 
contingent of your skill, your benevolence and friendly inter- 
est, and I am delighted to be able to take advantage of this 
occasion to express to you by word of mouth the profound 



gratitude that from that time we Costa Ricans owe to you. a 
gratitude lliat expands now that we find ourselves honored 
witli your visit. And I am confident that this advent of 
yours will leave in us a wake of fellow-feeling, not like that 
made by the furrow that the ship forms in the waters, to be 
destroyed by them immediately afterward, but a wake as 
wide and luminous as it is permanent. 

Based on these antecedents is inspired the cordiality with 
which 1 drink your health. Mr. Secretary, and also that of 
President Taft. and in the same way the health of the peo- 
ple of the United States, and as that great country does not 
now see in any ([uarter a cloud that may darken the splendor 
of its power. I hope that it may ne^^er see the refulgent sun 
of justice eclipsed on its horizon, so that its greatness and 
moderation, without losing their force for a moment may 
likew-ise continue shining over the world until the end 
of time. 

To your health, Mr. Secretary. 



THE RESPONSE OF SECRETARY KNOX 

Mr. President and Gentlemen: 

It is indeed a pleasure for me, Mr. President, to ac- 
knowledge how deeply I appreciate the generous sentiment 
you have proposed and the honor you do me and through 
me the American people by show^ering upon me your boun- 
teous and cordial hospitality, thereby evincing your sym- 
pathetic response to the spirit which has inspired my mission 
to you. I know that I am acknowledging no feigned friend- 
ship or simulated courtesy, but that the great heart of Costa 
Rica has responded to the heart of her most northern sister 
republic. The similarity of our political organizations, our 
geographical proximity, the tendency of our commercial and 
industrial interests and policies and our traditional and long- 
continued relations of friendship and good will inspired in 
the President of the United States the sincere desire that 
our sympathies, cooperation and good understanding should 
increase and for that reason he directed me to visit the Re- 
public of Costa Rica and our other sister republics in the 
region of the Caribbean Sea in order that I might carry to 
them a message of good will from the people and Govern- 
ment of the United States, and further that I might make 
that personal acquaintance with your public men and hos- 
pital peoples to the end that such direct personal knowledge 
and understanding and appreciation might result in mutual 
advantage and cooperation for the advancement of our 
common interests. 

It was with a feeling of genuine wonder and admiration 
that I arrived at your Capital City after the marvelous ride 
from the Coast, along the wonderful Reventazon, following 
its tortuous and difficult windings, through the most beau- 
tiful tropical foliage until arriving at the highlands the 

9 



verdure of the temperate zone at once met the eye. The 
abiHty to make this journey in so much comfort was, Mr. 
President, a suggestion of what the Costa Ricans have ac- 
compHshed along other hues and fully prepared me for the 
abundant evidences of the industry, thrift, tenacity and cul- 
ture of your people, which I met at every hand. 

It is with a feeling of gratified expectancy that one finds 
at every turn expressions of the traditional love of your 
people for education, not only in its practical forms, but for 
the higher arts, notably architecture and music, and to see 
in the happy and radiant faces of the children the reflection 
of the beauty of their mothers and sturdy qualities of their 
fathers, , f.- ,S'iil 

It is given to few countries to make the just boast that 
within her borders the school teachers outnumber the sol- 
diers and that resting upon her bosom in the very center of 
America is the first perfect type of an International Court of 
Arbitral Justice. 

The attitude of the Government of the United States 
toward the peaceful settlement of international disputes, of 
which his court forms a model, has been consistently main- 
tained since the foundation of our Government, as is evi- 
denced by the treaty of Ghent. The attitude of the Republic 
of Costa Rica has likewise been consistent and is amply evi- 
denced by the course adopted for the settlement of the cen- 
tury old boundary dispute with Panama. I repeat, Mr. 
President, that the people of Costa Rica may justly felicitate 
themselves that in their very midst is the home of the Cen^ 
tral American Court of Justice, the one tribunal before which 
one nation may bring another, yes, before which an indi- 
vidual may bring a nation to determine before the bar of 
impartial justice the differences that exist between them. 
My Government, and I am sure the government of Mexico, 
feel proud of the part played by them in the Central Ameri- 
can Peace Conference, convoked under their auspices, out 
of which grew this International Forum, which is the proto- 



10 



type of the court it has long been the desire of the United 
States to see estabUshed by the nations of the earth. In this 
connection, Mr. President, let me express the feeling of pro- 
found satisfaction that the people and Government of the 
United States entertain, not only because of the rapidly in- 
creasing prosperity of Costa Rica, but because of her love 
for peace, because of the respect she inspires in the family of 
nations, because she has laid the foundations of perpetual 
freedom upon the eternal rock of justice and occupies an ex- 
ceptional and enviable position among the American Repub- 
lics due to the general distribution of property among her 
people, and because of the constantly increasing intimacy 
and friendliness between her people and our own. 

It is but a short time, Mr. President, until at Panama a 
new highway of commerce will be opened to the world. 
That event, so conspicuous and significant, will remove the 
countries of the Caribbean Sea from their comparative iso- 
lation and place them upon the greatest commercial highway 
on the globe, a highway from the Northern to the Southern, 
from the Western to the Eastern world. The republics of 
this hemisphere will be thrown into a new day and a new 
condition. It would be folly to enter that new day without 
a proper conception of its opportunities and possibilities for 
our common good. We should go into the new epoch as 
befits it, with new aspirations and enthusiasms and with 
greater promise. The casual relations which once marked 
our intercourse are now happily not casual, but they must be 
closer and more friendly still, so close indeed that as we labor 
to better human conditions this common end will be a bond 
of trust and hope. 

I bear to you then, not only a message of good will but 
one bespeaking a mutual understanding, and union in aspira- 
tion and effort toward furthering the progress of the west- 
ern world through deeds of reciprocal helpfulness. 

The free and equal republics which have established 
themselves upon this hemisphere have a singular harmony 



11 



of destiny, and that is, to bring their common form of gov- 
ernment to the highest point of efficiency for the mainte- 
nance of popular rights. The greatest strength of these re- 
pubHcs whose heritage is so wonderful lies in unity of aim 
and effort. 

While we will all be more or less in the future as in the 
past engrossed in questions afifecting our internal develop- 
ment and our own acute problems, it is wise to seize every 
opportunity to impress upon the world and upon ourselves 
that ours is a Pan-American Union of lofty Pan-American 
public opinion doing justice and exacting justice, disclaim- 
ing ignoble suspicion and putting to scorn international 
acts of unworthiness when unhappily they may be found 
among us. 

Gentlemen, I propose the health, the happiness and the 
prosperity of the President and people of Costa Rica. 

* * * * 

The enthusiastic applause with which both addresses 
were received surely will reverberate with a sympathetic 
echo throughout the entire country, since said applause rep- 
resents the vehement desire of the Costa Ricans to live for 
the noble purpose of enjoying all the great blessings of lib- 
erty by means of peace and industry. 

The visit of the illustrious Secretary of State of the 
United States of America, his distinguished wife and select 
l)arty, then, has come to an end, leaving in Costa Rica the 
most pleasant impressions and imdying memories. At 
Puntarenas he left the Costa Rican shores in order to con- 
tinue in other Central American republics his praiseworthy 
mission. May his voyage be pleasant, and may he be an 
earnest of peace among us ! 



12 



Secretary Knox landed at Port Limon, on the Atlantic, 
March 1. 1912, and proceeded to San Jose the same da)^ 
where he remained until March 4th, when he left for Pun- 
tarenas, on the Pacific. From that port he addressed the 
following telegram : 



"His Excellency the President of Costa Rica, San Jose : 

"Upon departing from the hospitable shores of 
Costa Rica permit me heartily and profoundly to 
thank you for the cordial and generous hospitality 
shown me and my family during our stay in your beau- 
tiful country. T shall always look back with the most 
inspiring recollection of my unprecedented welcome 

here. 

"(Signed) P. C. Knox." 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 





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